rook

¹rook

noun \ˈru̇k\

Definition of ROOK

: a common Old World gregarious crow (Corvus frugilegus) that nests and roosts in usually treetop colonies

Illustration of ROOK

Origin of ROOK

Middle English, from Old English hrōc; akin to Old High German hruoch rook

First Known Use: before 12th century

Rhymes with ROOK

book, brook, chook, cook, Cook, crook, hook, look, nook, schnook, shook, snook, stook

²rook

transitive verb

Definition of ROOK

: to defraud by cheating or swindling

Examples of ROOK

1. <once you learn to recognize these swindler's tricks, no one will be able to use them to rook you>

First Known Use of ROOK

circa 1590

Related to ROOK

Synonyms

beat, bilk, bleed, cheat, chisel, chouse, con, cozen, defraud, diddle, do, do in, euchre, fiddle, flimflam, gaff, gyp, hose [slang], hustle, mulct, nobble [British slang], pluck, ream, rip off, fleece, screw, shake down, short, shortchange, skin, skunk, squeeze, stick, stiff, sting, sucker, swindle, thimblerig, victimize

Related Words

extort, wrench, wrest, wring; clip, gouge, nick, overcharge, soak; exploit, milk; deceive, dupe, fool, gull, trick; rope (in); betray, bitch, double-cross; bamboozle, fast-talk

³rook

noun

Definition of ROOK

: either of two pieces of each color in a set of chessmen having the power to move along the ranks or files across any number of unoccupied squares —called also castle

Origin of ROOK

Middle English rok, from Anglo-French roc, from Arabic rukhkh, from Persian rukh

First Known Use: 14th century

Other Game Terms

bezique, carom, convention, crap, euchre, gambit, monte, parlay, tierce

⁴rook

noun

Definition of ROOK

: rookie

First Known Use of ROOK

1905

rook

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

Most abundant Eurasian bird (Corvus frugilegus) of the crow family (Corvidae). Rooks, 18 in. (45 cm) long, are black and have shaggy thigh feathers and bare white skin at the base of the sharp bill. They are migratory and range discontinuously from Britain to Iran and Manchuria. They dig for larvae and worms in meadows and plowed fields. They nest in large colonies (rookeries) in tall trees, sometimes within towns; the nest, solidly constructed of twigs and soil, is used year after year.